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Thy Art is Murder – Dear Desolation (Deathcore)

Even as a fan of deathcore I’ve always had a weird relationship with Thy Art is Murder. While everyone seems to praise their early albums (especially Hate) I always had a soft spot for Holy War. With Dear Desolation and the singles that’s been out it was clear the band was moving in a new direction. More towards death metal than deathcore. Is this something that will fit Thy Art is Murder or will it be a big disappointment?

The truth is I initially did find the album rather lacking something. It took me a few playthroughs to really get to enjoy this album but once I did I found Dear Desolation being a good album. Thy Art is Murder isn’t the first, nor the last, deathcore band to change direction to evolve beyond the somewhat harsh label deathcore has. Whitechapel and Suicide Silence have both done this recently (with mixed results) but Thy Art is Murder is actually the first band I think does this well. CJ McMahon’s growls makes perfect use here for both styles so the transition works wonderful. The songwriting is still spot on, which is something I think have made Thy Art is Murder stick out from most deathcore bands from the very start. Whereas I think some songs are a bit weak tracks like Puppet Master and Slaves Beyond Death shows that this is the right direction for the band that they can keep on improving with the next release. It’s not as good as their past two releases but this change of wind is good for them in the end and I am certain the follow-up to Dear Desolation will be spectacular once they take this sound even further.